Tom Ward's Tapstone Energy to buy Kansas acreage

His new company is buying into the same oil play he chose to focus on when he was CEO of SandRidge Energy Inc.

Ward’s Tapstone Energy LLC has agreed to purchase all of Shell’s Mississippi Lime holdings in Kansas, a Tapstone Energy spokesman confirmed Thursday. He declined further comment on the deal.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC confirmed the deal as well.

“Shell recently signed a definitive agreement to sell 100 percent of its Mississippi Lime Play holdings in Kansas to Tapstone Energy LLC,” Shell spokeswoman Kimberly Windon said in an email to The Oklahoman. “The transaction is expected to close in March. Financial details of the transaction will not be disclosed.”

The Dutch oil giant drilled 45 wells in nine Kansas counties before halting operations there last year amid disappointing results.

Shell holds 600,000 acres in the Mississippi Lime, the play Ward staked the future of SandRidge on before he was ousted as CEO last year.